β

Blue mud dauber

The blue mud dauber (Chalybion californicum) is a metallic blue species of mud dauber wasp that is the primary predator of black widow spiders.[2] Females build their own nests, but occasionally refurbish nests abandoned by other mud dauber wasps, particularly Sceliphron.[3] It is not normally aggressive.[2] It is similar in shape and colour to the steel-blue cricket hunter (Chlorion aerarium). Like other types of wasps, males do not have an ovipositor, therefore cannot sting.